News of the day from around the globe, June 22

Chronicle News Services

Published
3:30 pm PDT, Friday, June 22, 2018

1Venezuela abuses: Government security forces carry out unjustified killings without any apparent consequences as the rule of law in Venezuela quickly vanishes, a United Nations report charged Friday. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Venezuelan officers accused in some 500 questionable killings appear to be evading charges. That is a sign that checks and balances have been chiseled away, leaving state authorities unaccountable, said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the high commissioner. “The impunity must end,” Zeid said in the report. Venezuela is in the grips of a crisis marked by food and medicine shortages and soaring inflation that has driven thousands to flee the country.

2Militant sentenced: Aman Abdurrahman, a leading Islamic State group recruiter and ideologue in Indonesia, was found guilty and sentenced to death Friday on charges that he incited five deadly attacks while he was in prison on an earlier terrorism conviction. The five-judge panel in Jakarta ruled that Aman, although he played no operational role, still shared responsibility for the armed attacks in 2016 and 2017, which killed nine people and wounded dozens more. Aman, 46, told the judges Friday that he did not care about their verdict. Then he got on his knees and kissed the courtroom floor in apparent gratitude for their making him a martyr.

3Family reunions: North and South Korea agreed Friday to hold temporary reunions of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War as they boost reconciliation efforts amid a diplomatic push to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. The reunions will take place at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort from Aug. 20 to 26, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said after a meeting between Red Cross officials from the two sides. It said the countries will each send 100 participants to the reunions. The reunions are highly emotional as most wishing to take part are elderly people who are eager to see their loved ones before they die. The families were driven apart during the turmoil of the war.

4Rights commission: Diplomats said Friday that Israel has temporarily reduced its participation with the U.N.’s main human rights body, days after the United States pulled out largely over its allegation that the Human Rights Council is biased against Israel. The diplomats in Geneva, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Israel had “lowered” its participation at the council to align its stance more with the U.S. position. The diplomats cautioned that the move was not definitive and could change from day to day. Israel is not one of the council’s 47 member states, but has participated like most other countries as an observer.

5Hungary crackdown: A group of experts advising the Council of Europe on Friday called on Hungary to repeal its so-called “Stop Soros” law, which threatens to incarcerate people helping refugees. The Venice Commission said certain provisions of the law disproportionally restrict the rights of civic groups as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The commission said that while many European countries criminalize activities like human trafficking for financial gain, the new law in Hungary makes no exceptions for groups providing humanitarian assistance, putting them at risk of prosecution “even if they act in good faith in line with international law.” Hungary claims financier George Soros and civic groups he supports promote mass migration into Europe, a charge they deny.